For Minnesota United, MLS’ return to the U.S. Open Cup has its benefits

The soccer season is famously long; the preseason begins in mid-January, and if all goes well, the season can last into early December.

Despite this, in May, the Loons still have to deal with something that seems impossible, given the length of the season: schedule congestion.

Between last Saturday’s game in Austin and Minnesota’s June 1 game in Seattle, the Loons will play at least eight times in 29 days. If they can beat Louisville City FC on Wednesday night, in Minnesota’s first game of the U.S. Open Cup, they’ll earn another game in that span, too.

“I don’t think it’s an easy period, this one,” said manager Eric Ramsay. “It’s probably the most difficult period over the course of the year when it comes to the volume of games. We’ll need to draw on the squad — and I think for a lot of the guys who’ve been on the periphery of the [starting] 11 so far, I think this will be a welcome period.”

The Loons have several players who have fallen through the cracks a bit over the first 11 games, when it comes to playing time. Sang Bin Jeong, a hugely important player in 2024, has played 178 minutes this season. Morris Duggan started the first six games of the year at left center back, but has just two second-half substitute appearances since.

That’s not to mention young players who are still adjusting to life in Minnesota, like Owen Gene (who’s returning from an ankle injury this month) and Hoyeon Jung (one first-team appearance for 15 minutes this season).

Seven of the games in this period are league games, but Wednesday’s game at Louisville marks Minnesota’s return to the U.S. Open Cup, after a one-year, MLS-enforced hiatus. Controversially, the league withdrew its teams from the century-old national championship in 2024, before reinstating a handful — along with some second teams, like MNUFC2.

The Loons’ second team lost to an independent-league team in the second round last year, and this year, it’s the first team’s chance to have the target on its back.

It’s the beauty of the Cup, that USL teams like Louisville City have a chance to knock off one of the MLS big boys. It’ll be Ramsay’s first U.S. Open Cup game, following last season’s controversy, and he was careful not to dismiss it as an early-season distraction — especially given that Louisville is undefeated in seven USL Championship games this season.

“It’s a game that we want to go and win,” he said. “It’s a game that I know we’re going to have a tough night in.”

Louisville City is all but unbeatable at Lynn Family Stadium; since the beginning of 2024, Los Morados (“The Purples,” for their team colors) are 22-2-0 at home.

One of those two losses came in last season’s playoffs, against Rhode Island FC, and Duggan — on loan — was in the starting lineup for Rhode Island that day. “It’s definitely a tough environment,” said Duggan. “I would say is that it’s as close to an MLS environment as it gets in USL.”

The temptation is to write off the level of a second-division team, but Duggan was quick to caution against that.

“It is not to be underestimated at all,” he said. “I feel like in the USL, they have MLS caliber players for sure. It’s grown men, and there’s a lot of talent, and they’re going to be really hungry and it’s going to be a really good game.

By virtue of being an MLS team, the Loons are already into the last 32 of the competition. If they can get past Louisville City, they would host the winner of St. Louis City and (third-division) Union Omaha in the round of 16 — an excellent chance to progress toward the team’s first major trophy.

And after all, who can resist the magic of the Cup? “It’s just a great opportunity,” said Duggan. “I mean, it’s the U.S. Open Cup. Who doesn’t love cup games?”